How 69-year-old bike shop owner discovered he was dad of Jeff Bezos after he made 'big mistake'
Although we are all well aware of who Jeff Bezos is, and that he's worth a few quid, not a lot of us are clued up on his family life.
His surname might have become synonymous with astronomical wealth, but it turns out that he only acquired it when he was four years old.
And that's why his biological father, Ted Jorgensen, had no idea that his son had become one of the richest blokes in the world until 2012.
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Jorgensen was 69 years old when he opened up about discovering that he was the father of Bezos two years earlier, who at that time was in his late 40s.
The e-commerce kingpin was born in January 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while his mother Jacklyn Gise was still in high school and his dad was working as a circus performer.
But the pair divorced the following year, when the Amazon founder - then named Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen - was just 17 months old.
Gise went on to marry Miguel 'Mike' Bezos in April 1968, while asking Jorgensen to let her new husband adopt their son and give up custody.
He agreed, and the little boy who would later become a business magnate had his surname legally changed to Bezos.
Speaking to Inside Edition in 2014, Jorgensen recalled the last time he had ever seen his son before they completely lost contact.
"I was working in a Walmart and I remember them coming to visit me for some reason," he said.
"It was cold and he had his little winter coat on, and I just remember him walking down the aisle coming to see me."
Fast forward to 2012, Jorgensen was left stunned when journalist Brad Stone waltzed into his bike shop in Arizona, US, to ask him a few questions.
He informed the shop owner that he had made the connection between him and Bezos while conducting research for a book detailing Amazon's rise to power.
This came as quite the shock to the former unicyclist, as he had never even heard of the world's largest online retailer and didn't use a computer.
He told Stone at the time: "I didn't know where he [Bezos] was, if he had a good job or not, or if he was alive or dead."
Jorgensen said that over the years, he had forgotten the new surname his son had taken, hence why he had no idea about Bezos' meteoric journey to success.
He opened up about regretting not having a relationship with his son during the 2014 interview, saying he regarded it as a 'big mistake'.
"But at the time, I thought it was the best," Jorgensen said.
Reflecting on his conversation with Stone, he said: "He asked me if I knew who Jeff Bezos was. I said, 'No, the name kind of sounds familiar, but I don't know him'."
Jorgensen - who was battling emphysema at the time - spoke of his desire to apologise to his son for what he regarded as the biggest mistake of his life, although getting in touch with a bloke as high-profile as Bezos proved difficult.
"I would just like to tell him I used to change his diapers and just shake his hand and tell him he's really done a good job with his life," he said.
The bike shop owner, who was based in Phoenix, passed away in March 2015, aged 70.
According to Page Six, he never reconnected with Bezos before he died.
When asked about Jorgensen in 1999, the billionaire told Wired: "The reality, as far as I'm concerned, is that my dad [Miguel Bezos] is my natural father.
"The only time I ever think about it, genuinely, is when a doctor asks me to fill out a form."
He previously praised his adoptive dad for moving to the US from Cuba as a teenager, saying: "His grit, determination, and optimism are inspiring."
Bezos - who created Amazon out of his garage in Seattle in 1994 - stepped down as CEO of the company in July 2021.
According to Forbes, his current net worth is a whopping $241.2billion.
Topics: Jeff Bezos, Amazon, Parenting, US News
Olivia Burke